Adding EOs to an unscented cured soap?

[DanielCoffey]

Hello folks - I have a batch of unscented tallow soap coming off my curing shelf at the end of this week that I originally forgot to add the EO and I wondered what was the usual practice for adding essential oils to a cured soap?

The soap in question is a small batch (300g of oils) of 75% tallow, 15% CO, 5% shea, 5% castor and dual lye 95% NaOH, 5% KOH with 2% SF.

I forgot the Bog Myrtle oil that I intended to add at 3% and now the soap is 4 weeks old I figured I would ask about adding it now.

I do also have an almost identical 75% lard soap that is a week younger and I am wondering about the wisdom of combining the two batches to get a half lard, half tallow dual lye. What do you think? Keep them separate or combine? Both are unscented.

 

[Susie]

Tallow and lard make an amazing bar of soap. You would have to rebatch both batches to be able to add scent. I would not. I would grate some of each batch, stir together, then make a third batch using 1.5 times the normal amount of scent to make it a confetti soap. But I hate rebatching with a passion, so keep that in mind.

 

[HowieRoll]

Are you up for an experiment, or are you asking about rebatching entirely? The latter I do not have experience with, but the former is something I've been thinking about for a while and it would be interesting to get another forum member willing to try an experiment.

The idea is to "imbue" a soap with a scent, rather than adding it directly to the batter. I've tried it once before with (moderate) success, and just today was going to have another go at it with some older soaps that I'd left out in the open air for months and months and the scent has long faded.

My plan is to put them into a closed clamshell container (I have some that look exactly like these) with a cottonball containing 2-3 grams of an EO. The cottonball will be placed into a small glass votive candle holder so as not to have direct contact with the soap or plastic container. I will leave them in there for at least a month and then see if the scent penetrates the entire bar.

I did it before with an unscented batch of soap that was 45% olive oil, 20% coconut oil, 20% unrefined cocoa butter, 10% avocado oil, and 5% castor oil. Sugar and kaolin clay were added. The cocoa butter scent was prominent. After curing it for 3 weeks in open air I moved two bars (145g/5.1oz each) to a clamshell with 2g peppermint EO, and two bars (145g/5.1oz each) into a clamshell with 2 tsp freshly ground coffee.

Then I forgot about them for a while and it was probably another 3-4 months before I used a bar of the peppermint. And dang it if there wasn't a peppermint smell the whole way through. Not strong, mind you, but definitely peppermint. The coffee one smelled faintly of coffee but really seemed to make the cocoa butter smell very rich, like it added depth to it.

Like I mentioned, I'm going to start another experiment today with old soaps (like 12 month old soaps) to see if I can liven up their scent again, but at some point I would like to make an unscented batch so I can do this when it is still young and see if it makes any difference. Again, I don't think the end result will be a smack-you-in-the-face scent strength, but I prefer a lighter scent, anyway.

Just thought I'd toss that idea out to you, but again, if you were looking for rebatch/adding scent to the batter answers then, um, disregard this novella!

 

[DanielCoffey]

An intriguing idea - I remember doing something like that when I was helping run the junior scouts tuck shop and we stored the extra-strong mints in with the Mars bars and then sold those bars first as "mint" Mars bars. I was only a kid at the time so it was more a novelty than a serious science experiment.

I have four 100g bars of each of the two batches - one tallow and one lard. Having looked at some more suggestions of rebatching I can see why some folks do it (ability to use delicate scents and pH sensitive colours) and I can also see the reasons why not (extra work, lumpy soaps, air bubbles and so on).

Given that these batches are small, I may try one single bar out of each batch in its "naked" form (although the tallow ones do have a slight tallow smell) to experience the two different soap types and then consider a fresh batch with a blend of lard and tallow that I add the Bog Myrtle to this time. I am due a soap supplies order anyway before I make anything else.

I hate throwing away anything hand made (unless it is icky) but with only me using it, if I don't do something with them (or write them off as "training" soaps and make a new scented batch), I will be stuck using them for a very long time. Eight bars of a hard, well cured soap will mean a very long time without any scents.

 

[dibbles]

Or this https://makemesomesoap.wordpress.co...g-soap-a-great-way-to-reboot-a-batch-of-soap/ (scroll down a bit to see the embed soap) It's something I've been wanting/meaning to try for a very long time.

 

[penelopejane]

^^^^Lovely!

Or as Susie said confetti them. Very easy to grate the bars and add to new scented batter. Google confetti soap for some beautiful soaps.

 

[Susie]

OK, HowieRoll, I can give you some direct experience on that one. I did not use your clamshell, but they were in a plastic shoe box with an open container of FO for four months. The scent penetrated the first 3.5 mm all around. Once I got to the center of the bars, they were completely unscented.

 

[HowieRoll]

Thank you, Susie, for sharing your experience! It's a shame the scent didn't carry through the entire bar. I am no chemist, but I wonder if the "tenacity," for lack of better word, of some scents might work better than others. For instance, peppermint is such a little powerhouse that I wonder if it might infiltrate better than, say, lime. I also wonder if it works better on freshly made soap that is going through it's crystallization and evaporation process. Or maybe it doesn't work at all (such as your case), and the previous experiment I did was a fluke. So many questions, and I need to do some testing to satisfy my own curiosity (started another experiment today). But thanks again for sharing, and to DanielCoffey, my apologies for veering off course on your thread!